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Donald Earl Miller

Leonard K. Firestone Professor of Religion and Professor of Religion and Sociology
Director

Contact Information
E-mail: demiller@usc.edu
Phone: (213) 740-8562
Office: ACB 439

LINKS
Curriculum Vitae
Faculty Profile on Departmental Website
 

Biographical Sketch

Donald E. Miller, Firestone Professor of Religion at the University of Southern California. Donald Miller is the Executive Director of the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at USC as well as a professor of religion and sociology. He is the author/editor of nine books, including Global Pentecostalism: The New Face of Christian Social Engagement (University of California Press, 2007), Finding Faith: The Spiritual Quest of the Post-Boomer Generation (Rutgers University Press, 2008), Armenia: Portraits of Survival and Hope (University of California Press, 2003), GenX Religion (Routledge, 2000), Reinventing American Protestantism (University of California Press, 1997), Survivors: An Oral History of the Armenian Genocide (University of California Press, 1993), Homeless Families: The Struggle for Dignity (University of Illinois Press, 1993), Writing and Research in Religious Studies (Prentice Hall, 1992), and The Case for Liberal Christianity (Harper & Row, 1981). Currently Professor Miller is writing a book on the experiences of survivors after the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda. In addition, he is overseeing a Templeton Foundation research initiative on Global Pentecostalism and is series editor for Oxford University Press for a number of volumes that will be published related to Pentecostal and charismatic Christianity. He is married to Lorna Miller. They have two children, Arpi, a doctoral student in sociology at UCLA, and Shont, an attorney, living in Seattle.
 

Education

Ph.D. Social Ethics and Religion, University of Southern California, 1/1975
M.A. Social Ethics and Religion, University of Southern California, 1/1972
B.A. Psychology, University of Southern California, 1/1968
 

Academic Appointment, Affiliation, and Employment History

Executive Director, Center for Religion and Civic Culture, 01/01/1996-  
Professor, University of Southern California, 01/01/1993-  
Director, School of Religion, University of Southern California, 2003-2008  
Associate Professor, University of Southern California, 01/01/1981-01/01/1993  
Visiting Scholar, Cambridge University, 01/01/1981-01/01/1982  
Assistant Professor, University of Southern California, 01/01/1975-01/01/1981  
Visiting Scholar, Cambridge University, 01/01/1978-01/01/1979  
Instructor, University of Southern California, 01/01/1972-01/01/1975  
 

Description of Research

Summary Statement of Research Interests

Professor Miller is a sociologist of religion with interest in global religious trends, new patterns of religious practice, and innovative organizational responses to cultural change. In addition, he has done extensive research on genocide, including oral history projects on the Armenian genocide that occurred in 1915 and the Rwandan genocide in 1994. Currently he is overseeing a project on global Pentecostalism and charismatic Christianity that is based in 23 countries.
 

Research Keywords

religion and social change, Pentecostalism, genocide, violence, faith-based movements, global religious trends
 

Research Specialties

Religious trends, genocide, oral history, religious ethnography,Pentecostalism
 

Funded Research

Contracts and Grants Awarded

Global Pentecostalism (Templeton (John) Foundation), Donald E. Miller, $7,000,000, 01/01/2009-12/31/2013  
Cecil Murray Center for Community Development (California Community Foundation), Donald E. Miller, $150,000, 06/16/2010-06/15/2012  
Cecil Murray Center for Community Engagement (Comerica Bank), Donald E. Miller, $25,000, 06/16/2010-06/15/2012  
Assessment of African American Clergy (Liberty Hill Foundation), Donald E. Miller, $10,000, 05/19/2010-12/31/2010  
Gang Violence Intervention (California Endowment), Donald E. Miller, Cecil Murray, $493,419, 09/01/2008-08/31/2010  
American Muslim Civic Leaders Initiative (Ford Foundation), Donald E. Miller, $200,000, 07/01/2008-06/30/2010  
Post 1992 Civic Role of Religion (Haynes Foundation), Donald E. Miller, Richard Flory, $197,941, 07/01/2008-06/30/2010  
American Muslim Civic Leaders Initiative (Carnegie Foundation), Donald E Miller, $50,000, 10/01/2007-06/30/2010  
Leadership Development in the Afician American Community: (Irvine Foundation), Donald Miller, Cecil Murray, $600,000, 12/18/2007-02/18/2010  
 

Affiliations with Research Centers, Labs, and Other Institutions

Center for Religion and Civic Culture, Executive Director,http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/religion_online/index.html
 

Publications

Book

Miller, D. E. Healing, Forgiveness and Reconciliation in Post-Genocide Rwanda.
Miller, D. E., Sargeant, K., Flory, R. Spirit and Power: The Global Impact of Pentecostalism. New York: Oxford University Press.
Flory, R., Miller, D. E. (2008). Finding Faith: The Spiritual Quest of the Post-Boomer Generation. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
Miller, D. E. (2007). Global Pentecostalism: The New Face of Christian Social Engagement. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Miller, D. E., Miller, L. T. (2003). Armenia: Portraits of Survival and Hope. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Flory, R., Miller, D. E. (2000). Gen X Religion. New York: Routledge.
Miller, D. E. (1997). Reinventing American Protestantism: Christianity in the New Millennium. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Miller, D. E., Miller, L. T. (1993). Survivors: An Oral History of the Armenian Genocide. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Seltser, B. J., Miller, D. E. (1993). Homeless Families: The Struggle for Dignity. Ilinois, Indiana: University of Illinois Press.
Miller, D. E., Selster, B. J. (1992). Writing and Research in Religious Studies. Prentice-Hall.
Miller, D. E. (1981). The Case for Liberal Christianity. San Francisco, CA: Harper & Row.
 

Book Chapter

Miller, D. E. (2011). Civil Society and Religion. Oxford Handbook on Civil Society pp. 257-269. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
 

Journal Article

Miller, D. E. (2007). Progressive Pentecostals: The New Face of Christian Social Engagement. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. Vol. 46 (4), pp. 435-445.
 

Research Report

Flory, R., Loskota, B., Miller, D. E. (2011). Forging a New Moral and Political Agenda: The Civic Role of Religion in Los Angeles, 1992-2010.
 

Multimedia Scholarship and Creative Works

Photo-essay, "Orphans of the Rwanda Genocide" (Text by Donald Miller; photographs by Jerry Berndt). 80 pages, 2004-2005   
Photo-essay, "Immigrant Religion in the City of the Angels" (Text by Donald E. Miller, Jon Miller, Grace Dyrness; Photographs by Jerry Berndt). 48 pages., 2001-2002   
Photo-essay, "Politics of the Spirit: Portraits of Faith and Community in Los Angeles" (Introduction by Donald E. Miller; Photographs by Jerry Berndt). 160 pp., 1997-1998   
Photo-essay, "Armenia: Portraits of Survival" (Text by Donald E Miller; photographs by Jerry Berndt). 46 pages., 1994-1995   
 

Honors and Awards

USC Endowed Professorship, Leonard Firestone Professorship in Religion, 1/1/1996-  
President, Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, 2005-2006  
USC Raubenheimer Outstanding Senior Faculty Award, 2002  
 

Service to the University

Administrative Appointments

Executive Director, Center for Religion and Civic Culture, 1996-2012  
 

Service to the Profession

Professional Offices

President, Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, 2006-2007   
 
 
Faculty may update their profile by visiting https://mydornsife.usc.edu.